Iranian women given parity with men in blood money insurance

Rahim Zareh, the spokesman for parliament's economic commission, said on television that the bill to implement parity in the third person life insurance of men and women had been prepared earlier, and the commission is pleased to announced it was approved by the Guardian Council.

He added that the commission had argued that many women are now sole guardians of their families and in case of their death, the financial health and security of their families is dependent on the insurance payouts, which need to be on par with what is paid out to men.

According to Zareh, once the new law is ratified, the government will have 15 days to implement it.

The spokesman for the judiciary recently announced that blood money has been increased to 190 million toumans.

Blood money is a form of Islamic life insurance, which is paid out to the deceased person's survivors.

At the beginning of the Islamic Revolution, senior cleric Ayatollah Beheshti suggested setting blood money for women at half the rate of that for men because he argued women were not providers for their families.